Chapter 3

Zena's POV

The two men standing in front of me look like they walked out of a fancy magazine.

I once read a book about super werewolves. Rich, powerful, handsome, and sexy. They have all the characteristics and exude the aura of strong Alphas too.

For a second, my throat goes dry.

It isn’t their faces. Yeah, they are handsome, but that isn’t what makes my stomach flip. It is the way they look like carbon copies of each other.

Twins, no doubt. They have the same sharp jaws and the same dark hair.

Then Skye loses it.

She goes crazy inside my head, howling, jumping, and screaming. I can’t even hear myself think.

Mate, mate, mate! she yells.

I press my hand to my chest. The bond hits me like a truck. I can feel it reaching out toward both of them.

Both. Oh no!

The first twin sees me standing there like a dummy. His eyebrow goes up with what looks like disdain and amusement. He walks past me and sits on the bed closest to the window.

“Great,” he says. His voice is loud. “Last year we had a weirdo. Now we have a caveman.”

He looks at his brother and laughs.

“Caveman?” My finger points at him before I can stop it. My fist is shaking. “Say that again. I dare you.”

He just looks at me like I am something he found under his shoe.

“Skinny caveman,” he says. “Better?”

I want to hit him, but then a light hits my eyes. I blink and turn my head before catching my reflection in the window glass.

Messy hair, the dirt still on my cheeks. Shadows under my eyes. The clothes are too big. I look like I slept in a ditch.

Well… because I did.

My hands drop to my sides.

Skye is still going crazy, but her noise is fuzzy in my head. All I can hear is his voice. “Skinny caveman.”

He isn’t wrong.

I notice the other twin hasn’t said anything. He picks the bed next to his brother and sits down quietly. But I can feel his piercing gaze on me.

The mean one goes back to unpacking. He pulls out a leather jacket. A watch. Stuff that looks expensive. Everything he touches screams money and power.

I don’t want to accept that they are my mates. Is this a blessing or a curse from the Moon Goddess?

The mean twin looks up. “You gonna stand there all night or you gonna move?”

I open my mouth to retort back, but nothing comes out.

Skye finally goes quiet and I breathe out a quiet sigh. I won't bother about the mean twin for now. It will be best to avoid him in the future.

The other twin stands up. He is taller than his brother, or maybe it is just the way he carries himself.

I see him walk toward me slowly.

“Nice meeting you roomie. My brother can be a dick sometimes” His voice is soft. I nod.

He tilts his head. His eyes go to my hair, my neck, and then my clothes.

“What’s your name?”

“Zen—” I stop and then swallow hard. “Zane. Zane.”

His brother laughs from the bed. “Zane? What kind of name is Zane?”

“Shut up, Cade, you are scaring the new boy,” the soft one says without looking away from me.

Cade. The one who called me a caveman. I take a mental note of his name. I am going to stay as far away from him as possible, else my cover will be blown.

The soft one sticks out his hand. “Caleb.”

I take it. His palm is rough and filled with calluses.

When he touches me, the bond screams so loud I almost pull back.

I notice he doesn’t feel the mate bond. Even though a sharp pain fills my heart at the realization, it is better that way anyway. I can't stand another rejection.

He lets go and walks back to his side of the room.

My heart is pounding so hard I think they can hear it.

Cade is still watching me from his bed with his arms crossed judgmentally. His mouth twists like he is holding back a laugh.

“Are you always this quiet or are you just scared?”

“I’m not scared,” I say. My voice cracks.

He smiles. It isn’t a nice smile. “Sure, caveman.”

Caleb looks at his brother. “Leave him alone.”

“I’m just saying,” Cade says, stretching out on his bed. “He looks like he got dragged here from a cave. And he smells like one too.”

My face goes hot. I want to hit him this time, but I don't want to get into trouble, so I ball my fist hard.

Cade’s words about me smelling like a cave poke at my brain, so I look down at my dirty shirt because he is right. I smell like the woods and old sweat.

Meanwhile, a loud bell rings in the hallway.

"Shower time!" the big voice shouts from the hall. "Five minutes and everyone to the washroom now!"

My heart stops and my blood turns into ice because the washroom means the boys all go to one big room with shower heads on the walls.

It means no curtains or doors. I know I am fucked. If I go in there and take off my clothes, they will see everything and they will see I am not a boy.

"Move it, caveman," Cade says while he grabs a towel. He heads for the door without even looking back, but Caleb follows him and pauses at the door to look at me with those deep eyes and asks, "You coming?"

"In a bit," I choke out and tell him, "I need to find my soap."

I don’t even have a sponge, not to talk of soap. I don’t have anything on me except the rags I am putting on.

Skye tries to comfort me, but I still can't shake off the feeling.

As soon as they leave, I start to shake because I can't go in there. I look at the window and think about jumping out, but we are too high up.

I step into the hallway. It doesn't help that my legs feel like jelly. The hall is full of guys laughing and pushing each other toward the big bathroom at the end.

I turn the other way and run down a dark side hall to find a place to hide.

My breath is coming in short gasps, but suddenly I bump into someone hard and it feels like hitting a brick wall.

"Whoa, easy there," a voice says, and I look up while blinking back tears of fear and see it is Marcus, the guy who helped me before.

He looks even richer now because he is wearing a silk robe that probably costs more than my whole savings. The small bag in his hand smells like expensive lemons.

"Zane, why are you running like a ghost is chasing you?" Marcus asks, and he tilts his head to look at my pale face.

I whisper, "The showers," and I can't say more, so I just point toward the noise of the other boys.

Marcus looks at the crowded hallway and then back at me.

"The public showers are disgusting," Marcus says while making a face, and he tells me, "Too many people use it and it’s definitely not clean." Then he looks at my dirty face and the way I am clutching my shirt closed, and he reaches out to pat my shoulder.

"Look, I have my own place and it’s got a real shower and hot water and a door that locks, so you can use mine if you want. It’s much better than being crammed in there with those animals."

I feel like a giant weight is lifted off my chest and I breathe out a huge sigh of relief because the door that locks is a private place.

"Really?" My voice is small and I ask, "You would let me?"

"Sure." Marcus smiles, and it is a kind smile. Then he says, "I don't like the mess anyway, so come on, because it’s just down this way."

I follow him and my heart finally slows down because if I had gone into that big room with Cade and Caleb, they would have known the truth in seconds.

Marcus is saving me again and he doesn't even know it. He opens a heavy oak door and shows me inside where the bathroom is beautiful with white tiles and a big shower.

"Take your time," Marcus says while stepping back into his room, and he tells me, "I'll be right here if you need anything."

I step inside and lock the door with a sigh of relief.